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“I don’t like to hear that,” Tibor said “But we should have thought of another possibility”
“What?”
“Bako has been here in Hungary But he has friends and business acquaintances in other places—custoitimate and criminal Maybe he called one in France I would be very careful if I were you”
“We will,” she said “Let us know if anything changes” She turned to Sam “Well, you heard him”
“Tibor was right We should have thought of this If Bako has friends all over Europe, we’ve got a proble place, his friends could already be on the scene digging”
“Nohat?”
“Behave as though we can still win until somebody proves we didn’t Drive the rest of the way to Reims, check into our hotel, and spend the last of the afternoon preparing to come back here after dark”
AT HIS OFFICE in Szeged, Arpad Bako sat at the head of a long rosewood conference table, studying the executives ranged around it listening to a report by the director of foreign sales He used such ti else, to study them They were sists, pharmacists, chemists—orked to improve various medicines the corees and perfor and dealt with hospitals and universities Still others were lawyers Bako had gone to the university, but he was not their equal in education or intellect
He was, however, a cunning man It must be obvious to theseto was impossible, a piece of fiction The sales of narcotic painkillers and tranquilizers that had value in the underground econo overreported The nuitin entities in far from proportionate numbers in every market Even in countries that had famous hundred-year-old pharmaceutical companies like Switzerland and Ger Bako products It was absurd In a couple of instances, the sales s in distant countries that er than the nu a year Yet Bako’s executives listened to it without blinking No nuotten rich by phantom sales, he knew, and they should be forced to hear the numbers If they wisely chose not to co else they knew or to express doubts, then all must be well for the present They were content with the status quo
Bako’s cell phone buzzed A couple of the men jumped and then turned to look at the others ry expressions, hoping so, but when they saw Bako taking his phone from his pocket they looked away He read the nuentlemen I need to take this call”
All of the dozen athered items like laptops and tablets, pens and coffee cups, and filed out of the rooer, who looked relieved When the soundproof door was shut, Bako flipped his thumb to receive the call
“Hello, Étienne,” said Bako “I’ve been wondering when you would call Good news?”
Étienne Le Clerc chuckled “It’s such good news that you ht where we expected it, in theAttila ether You could have left me out of this, done it yourself, and made an extra hundred million euros”
“There’s thatnow to lie and tell me that there was no treasure—that someone beat us to it”